We were getting close to the shore. We were tired and hungry, and our hands were sore. "Travel by coracle is the worst," Neddie said. "Who invented them, anyway?" "Well, the word coracle comes from the Welsh cwrwgl," Big Audrey said. "But they go back thousands of years, and similar boats turn up in all kinds of cultures. The curragh is an Irish boat, the Mandan Indians made bull boats, and the Iraqi gufa, the southern Indian parisal, and the Tibetan ku-dru are all along the same lines. As you can see, it's basically a big basket with hide stretched over it and tar spread over that to make it waterproof. And you have to admit, it got us where we wanted to go." "Do you have Wales, and Mandan Indians, and Tibet in this world, same as ours?" Neddie asked. "Apparently," Big Audrey said. "I want to go someplace where they're serving breakfast," I said. "Look!" Seamus Finn said. "People!" "Or Munchkins," I said. There were people! Short people! They were up to their middles, which would be up to our knees, in the river, scooping up fish in nets.
